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</xml><![endif]--><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE<o:p></o:p></span>
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext"><o:p><br>
</o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">October
29, 2013<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">Press
Contact:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">Scott
Hoffman Black, Executive Director, The Xerces Society for
Invertebrate Conservation, (503) 449-3792, <a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:sblack@xerces.org"><span
style="color:blue">sblack@xerces.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">Josh
Mogerman, NRDC, (773) 531-5359, <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:jmogerman@NRDC.org"><span style="color:blue">jmogerman@NRDC.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">Haley
McKey, Communications Associate, Defenders of Wildlife,
(202) 772-0247, <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:hmckey@defenders.org"><span
style="color:blue">hmckey@defenders.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center"><b><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">PROTECTION
FOR POLLINATORS: CONSERVATION GROUPS AND SCIENTISTS PUSH
USDA TO SAVE WILD BUMBLE BEES <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">WASHINGTON,
D.C. --- Leading conservation and science voices renewed
their call today for a key federal agency to protect bumble
bees in light of numerous threats contributing to population
declines. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation,
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Defenders of
Wildlife and Dr. Robbin Thorp asked the Secretary of
Agriculture to take action on a petition to regulate the
movement of commercial bumble bees in order to help control
the spread of parasites and pathogens to wild bumble bees—at
least one species of which may have already been driven to
extinction.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">“It
has been almost four years since we filed our petition
asking that APHIS regulate the movement of commercial bumble
bees,” said Sarina Jepsen, endangered species program
director at the Xerces Society for Invertebrate
Conservation. “Several species of bumble bees are in steep
decline and it is urgent that APHIS take action soon to
protect these important pollinators.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">Today’s
letter comes nearly four years after an initial Petition for
Rulemaking, which asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to
regulate the movement of commercial bumble bees in order to
help control the spread of parasites to wild bees. The
agency has not responded, despite dramatic declines in
several native bee populations across the country.
Researchers believe that pathogens transmitted by commercial
bumble bees are likely part of the problem, prompting the
call for agency intervention to help stem native bumble bee
losses and avert the associated impacts on the American food
system. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">“Without
immediate agency intervention we will likely continue to see
a dramatic decline in bumble bee pollinators with perilous
and potentially irreversible consequences,” Giulia Good
Stefani, attorney with NRDC said. “One third of the food on
our plates depends on pollinators. A failure to protect our
bumble bees has direct implications for the health of the
ecosystems that depend on them and for the security of our
food supply.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">Bumble
bee pollination is essential to the reproduction of many
crops and native flowering plants, and pathogens of bumble
bees can act as indirect plant pests that pose a significant
threat to agriculture and native ecosystems. “It is critical
that we use our managed pollinators wisely for the benefit
of agriculture and that we ensure the protection of our
non-managed pollinator resources,” said Dr. Robbin Thorp, a
bumble bee researcher and professor emeritus at University
of California at Davis. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">In
order to prevent the spread of disease to wild populations
of agriculturally significant bee pollinators, petitioners
asked APHIS to use its authority to regulate commercial
bumble bees. Specifically, APHIS should create rules
prohibiting the movement of bumble bees outside of their
native ranges and regulate interstate movement of bumble bee
pollinators within their native ranges by requiring permits
that show that bumble bees are certified as disease-free
prior to movement.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">“Pollinators
in the U.S., including bumble bees, </span><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">play
a vital role in the environment,</span><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">”
said Jason Rylander, staff attorney at Defenders of
Wildlife. “With some precautionary guidelines in place, we
can protect our native bee populations so they can continue
to pollinate native plants and important food crops.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">The
unregulated interstate movement of bumble bees outside their
native ranges may have already introduced diseases that have
led to the rapid endangerment of four formerly common bee
pollinators and the possible extinction of a fifth bumble
bee: the last reported sighting of a Franklin’s bee (<i>Bombus
franklini</i>) was in August of 2006, and, without
regulation, the western bumble bee (<i>Bombus occidentalis</i>),
the rusty patched bumble bee (<i>Bombus affinis</i>), the
yellow-banded bumble bee (<i>Bombus terricola</i>), and the
American bumble bee (<i>Bombus pensylvanicus</i>) are each
in danger of disappearing throughout significant portions of
their distribution ranges. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">###<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">To
read more about declining bumble bees, and to read the
letter and the petition please visit the Xerces Society’s
website, </span><span style="color:windowtext"><a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.xerces.org"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:blue">www.xerces.org</span></a></span><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">ABOUT
THE XERCES SOCIETY<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">Protecting
the Life that Sustains Us<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">The
Xerces Society is a nonprofit organization that protects
wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their
habitat. Established in 1971, the Society is at the
forefront of invertebrate protection worldwide, harnessing
the knowledge of scientists and the enthusiasm of citizens
to implement conservation programs. To learn more about our
work, visit </span><span style="color:windowtext"><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CMatthew%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CMicrosoft%5CWindows%5CTemporary%20Internet%20Files%5Cggoodstefani%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CMicrosoft%5CWindows%5CTemporary%20Internet%20Files%5CContent.Outlook%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CMicrosoft%5CWindows%5CTemporary%20Internet%20Files%5CContent.IE5%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CMicrosoft%5CWindows%5CTemporary%20Internet%20Files%5CContent.Outlook%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CDocuments%20and%20Settings%5Cchoffman%5CLocal%20Settings%5CTemporary%20Internet%20Files%5CContent.Outlook%5CMy%20Documents%5CDocuments%5Cinvertebrates%5Cinsecta%5Chymenoptera%5CBombus%5Cadvocacy%5Cpetition%20to%20APHIS%5Cmedia%5Cwww.xerces.org"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:blue">www.xerces.org</span></a></span><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">ABOUT
NRDC<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">Since
1970, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has been a
strong advocate for, and defender of, the earth's natural
resources and public health. Over these nearly four
decades-which have been a critical time in the development
of the modern environmental movement-NRDC has been a
powerful catalyst for change and improvement of
environmental policy in this country and internationally.
Today, NRDC represents more than 1.4 million members and
online activists and retains a staff of 400 attorneys,
scientists, and resource specialists, as well as experts in
publishing and communications, in six offices-New York,
Washington D.C, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Beijing and
Chicago. For more information, visit <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CMatthew%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CMicrosoft%5CWindows%5CTemporary%20Internet%20Files%5Cggoodstefani%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CMicrosoft%5CWindows%5CTemporary%20Internet%20Files%5CContent.Outlook%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CMicrosoft%5CWindows%5CTemporary%20Internet%20Files%5CContent.IE5%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CMicrosoft%5CWindows%5CTemporary%20Internet%20Files%5CContent.Outlook%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CDocuments%20and%20Settings%5Cchoffman%5CLocal%20Settings%5CTemporary%20Internet%20Files%5CContent.Outlook%5CMy%20Documents%5CDocuments%5Cinvertebrates%5Cinsecta%5Chymenoptera%5CBombus%5Cadvocacy%5Cpetition%20to%20APHIS%5Cmedia%5Cwww.nrdc.org"><span
style="color:blue">www.nrdc.org</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">ABOUT
DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext">Defenders
of Wildlife is dedicated to the protection of all native
animals and plants in their natural communities. With more
than 1 million members and activists, Defenders of Wildlife
is a leading advocate for innovative solutions to safeguard
our wildlife heritage for generations to come. For more
information, visit <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.defenders.org"><span style="color:blue">www.defenders.org</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span><br>
</p>
<div class="moz-forward-container"><br>
<div class="moz-signature">_____________________________________________________________________
<br>
<b>Sarina Jepsen</b>
<br>
Endangered Species Program Director, <a
href="http://www.xerces.org/">The Xerces Society</a>
<br>
Deputy Chair, IUCN Bumblebee Specialist Group | <a
href="http://www.iucn.org/bumblebees">iucn.org/bumblebees</a>
<br>
<br>
<b>The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation</b>
<br>
628 NE Broadway, Suite 200, Portland, OR 97232, USA
<br>
<a href="mailto:sarina@xerces.org">sarina@xerces.org</a>
<br>
Tel: (503) 232-6639, ext. 112
<br>
Toll free: 1-855-232-6639, ext. 112
<br>
Fax: (503) 233-6794
<br>
Cell: (971) 244-3727 <br>
<br>
Connect with Xerces:
<br>
<a href="http://www.xerces.org">xerces.org</a> <br>
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href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Xerces-Society/193182577358618">Facebook</a>
<br>
<a href="http://www.xerces.org/enewsletters">E-newsletter</a>
<br>
<a href="https://twitter.com/xerces_society">Twitter</a>
<br>
<br>
The Xerces Society is an international, nonprofit
organization that protects
<br>
wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their
habitat.
<br>
_____________________________________________________________________
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